Customer Story

We couldn’t stop smiling when a video of Gemvara customer Gary’s proposal to his fiance Courtney was posted on YouTube. His unique (and unusual proposal) at a Halloween party was a surprising and sweet moment captured on video. We just had to know more about Gary’s inspiration for his proposal and the engagement ring.

The Proposal

“I write messages on my head to earn some extra money. That last sentence was not a typo!” Gary laughed to us. Seeing that he wanted to propose to Courtney in a memorable fashion, he waited with his idea until their favorite holiday: Halloween. At a recent Halloween party, Gary and Courtney’s childhood friend Shannon snuck into the bathroom to write his romantic proposal on his head. With a large hat as part of his costume, it was the perfect way to conceal his message until the moment was right. With camera in hand, Shannon asked to take a picture of the couple but when she said, “Smile!” it was the go-time. Gary moved from the couch down to one knee on the floor and removed his hat. “Will you marry me?” on his head, and a custom Gemvara engagement ring in hand, Shannon was overjoyed. She said yes! Gary revealed a funny detail you can overhear in the video: “In the video, you can hear Courtney’s reaction to seeing the message written on my head, ‘Who did that to you?!’ She admitted that she felt an initial feeling of slight jealousy because it was obvious another woman had touched my head! When she found out it was her friend Shannon, she decided I wasn’t in the doghouse.”

The Ring

Gary describes him and Courtney as “a slightly oddball couple, and traditional things aren’t for us.” Courtney had dropped many hints that she was not a diamond girl. When it came time to create the perfect engagement ring, Gary used their favorite colors as his inspiration. Courtney’s favorite color is orange, so the center stone is a radiant fire opal. Gary chose amethyst for the side stones for his love of purple. “It is symbolic of our love and lives together, and shows that we will always be beside each other.” Inside the ring Gary engraved “I love you, Honey Poodle,” his nickname for Courtney. Let’s hope Gary’s wedding band will include an engraving of his nickname!

“I love Courtney very much, and we both love the beautiful ring from Gemvara!”

Congratulations to Courtney and Gary on your exciting and unique engagement! What a memory to capture forever.

There’s always excitement around the Gemvara hallways when a Gemvara box arrives, but last week was even more momentous when one of our very own got engaged! Molly’s desk quickly filled with onlookers dying to hear about the proposal and see the ring (a custom-ordered Cecilia Ring in diamond and yellow gold, shown here with a 1-carat stone).

The Proposal

Shawn and Molly were friends and college classmates before they began to date, finding a shared passion for skiing on a trip to Stowe, VT. Six years later, they returned to Stowe for a weekend with friends. The weather wasn’t on their side for skiing, but Shawn excitedly woke Molly up for a snowy hike. Molly wasn’t exactly enthused about the windy, icy trek, but the prospect of the sun gleaming off the fresh snow was enough to get her up and dressed. Bundled up, Shawn and Molly hiked up to the top of the hill where Shawn got down on one knee, dug through the layers of coats and sweaters keeping him warm, and presented Molly with “the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen in my life.” Shawn asked Molly to marry him… and it was a yes! Later, Shawn revealed to Molly that he woke her for that morning hike so she could enjoy the entire first day of being engaged, instead of just a night.

The Ring

As you might imagine, surprising a Gemvara employee with a ring from Gemvara.com can be a tricky matter. Luckily, Molly had previously gushed to fiancé Shawn about our Head of Customer Care, Stacey Scott and her casual, insider rapport with customers. When the time was right, Shawn knew exactly who to call with his top-secret plans. Through many phone calls and covert meetings (he was leery of email or texts in case Molly would see it), Shawn was able to create the stunning diamond engagement ring that Molly now can’t take her eyes off of. Molly’s ring is the Cecilia Ring in yellow gold with a sparkly center diamond with a diamond band. Shawn collaborated with Stacey and chose a custom size center stone, hand-selected by our expert jewelers – the Cecelia Ring comes in 1.2 and 3-carat versions on the website that can be customized with your choice of gemstones and metals. “I’ve always loved clean, simple and classic jewelry and when I joined the Gemvara team, this ring was instantly my favorite on the site,” Molly told us. As every piece of Gemvara jewelry is custom-made to order, the couple had not seen the ring in person beforehand but were thrilled with what they received.

“The diamond’s polish and cut are incredible. Both Shawn and I were blown away by the quality of the ring and couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”

From all of us at Gemvara, congratulations Molly and Shawn on your engagement and many happy years to come!